Mia Kelly - 00:00 I don't know where I frst heard the proverb, but it goes, it's better to be a warrior in a garden than to be a gardener in a war. So it essentially tells us that, you know, it's better to always be ready to be a fghter, to be, you know, be strong, be hard, be resilient, be like. Kind of doesn't leave very much space for vulnerability, for. For growth, for sweetness to yourself. I decided to switch it into Garden through the War because that allowed the story that I was trying to tell. It really. It took the story that I was trying to tell, and it made the message come across. And it's essentially what I'm trying to say is that to garden through war is sometimes. So is survival. Mia Kelly - 00:57 It is what keeps us coming through is if you have this kind of fghter mentality that works for some, but sometimes it doesn't work for others, and just kind of putting your head down and having a. The strength to just simply get through something difcult is really important and is really valuable and is. Is something that isn't celebrated. You know, we celebrate a lot of strength. And, you know, you came out stronger. You came out. And it's just like, you don't have to come out stronger sometimes you just have to come out on the other side alive, and then you can. There's a lot of growth that comes through that whole process. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 01:39 I want to welcome you on the show. Mia Kelly. This is Proper Conversations. We talk to artists across Canada about their music journey and projects they have in the moment. So thank you so much for giving your time today. Mia Kelly - 01:52 Thank you so much for having me. Fa. It's really a pleasure to be here. Finally. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 01:59 Finally, fnally. So where I want to start from is that I've gone through your website and I've gone through all that I can pull about you. I just want to start off with a little bit of quotes that you put somewhere on your website about people talking about your music. I think the one that catches my attention the best is that it says from A and R Factor that your potently celestial vocals and lyrical depth, you could drown in. And when I read that, I think it just. It aligned so much with what I had experienced listening to. Listening to your album when I frst got the full stuff from Carrie and I. So typically, I love. To begin with, at what point in your childhood, just growing up, did you fnd music or music found you? Efe Mike-Ifeta - 02:52 And if you were to leap however many years up front to when this quote was given, would you have imagined somebody describing what you do as Potently celestial. Mia Kelly - 03:04 What an incredible description. I genuinely, when I read that for the frst time, I was emotional. It was really kind. And I found music or music found me, as you so nicely put it. I was about 7 years old and I started doing musical theater. And that's when I fell in love with the stage, with performing, with, you know, just being under the lights. And I just, I thought it was so exciting. And it's really, I. I was very, you know, I had found my place. And so ever since then, I've just kind of kept evolving on. On stage. And then I took some music lessons and did the whole starting to write and starting to do shows on my own. And it just kind of snowballed into what it is today. Mia Kelly - 04:00 But never in my wildest seven year old dreams would I have imagined that this is kind of what I'm doing with my life and that people would call it potently celestial. Are you kidding? Oh my go. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 04:13 But that's very fascinating though. So, because I'm a huge fan of lyrics. Right. I have pulled. As we continue to have this conversation, I'm gonna tell you some of my favorite lyrics from what you have written so far. I'm also gonna share with you my favorite song from the album. But the question is, what got you into that level of poetry when you started writing? Because you fnd, I understand that it might come with the genre in which you found yourself being, you know, folksy and alternative folk and all of that stuff, but how did you gravitate towards so much depth and poetry? Because that's what your music reads like. Mia Kelly - 04:55 Thank you. It's a huge compliment. And I think the songwriting and the lyrics part is the most important for me. And so to hear that from you is really, I'm really grateful. And I think, to answer your question, I think I kind of grew up on a lot of lyric centric music and a lot of great poets and lyricists. Right now I'm thinking of Leonard Cohen. And I'm always, you know, reading lyrics and going to see what is this song about? What's the storytelling? What is what? What do they mean by that? Oh, I love the way they said that. And so kind of by. You learn by studying others. And so I defnitely think that's what happened for me. And it just comes out. That's how it comes out for me. Mia Kelly - 05:45 And so it's been a study of others, but also a natural kind of the way it comes out. Yeah. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 05:54 Okay. Okay. So I think the frst time I. Because I did live and I Think this fows into your project, your recent project. But I did live in Ottawa for some three years, I believe four years from. From 2010 to like 2013 or thereabout. But I think when I frst found you were playing around the Wakefeld area. Is that. Is. Is that familiar at all? Did you play around there? Mia Kelly - 06:21 Absolutely, yeah, I did play a lot. Yeah, I grew up playing in the Wakefeld area. Yeah, for sure. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 06:29 That's incredible. In 2012 and 2013, I actually did. I was a GU Theater Wakefeld. They had a camp there for kids. Mia Kelly - 06:40 Where I was there for two. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 06:43 Yes, I was there for two summers with the guys who ran it at the time, Brenda and her husband, Robert Rooney. But I think. Mia Kelly - 06:52 Right. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 06:53 It just. It just. It just pulled me to. Towards your music. And I just think that familiarity is fascinating. So now you have all of this stuff. I was watching your interview this morning, the one you did from two, I think three years ago, 2019 and Blues Fest and all of that stuff. And you started playing for Blues Fest from way back when. Yeah, it was. No, but it was just. At what point did you know that this could potentially be a career that you. Something that you wanted to do on a professional level? Mia Kelly - 07:34 That's a good question. I remember in grade 11 at our high school, we had to kind of do this personal project. And so, you know, people built things and made things and wrote a recipe book or things like that. And I decided I'd been doing music for a while now and I decided that I would record an episode. So, you know, taking that very seriously and kind of more I wanted to do it anyways. But the fact that kind of school forced me to do it in a certain time frame. And that was really, you know, having that project and it being super well received was a huge kind of push towards making. Mia Kelly - 08:21 I've always wanted to do music and I know I'm never going to stop, but kind of the place that it took, that it will take in my life was kind of yet to be decided. And that the success of that success, the. The way that album was or the EP was received. That's a big word for a small album. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 08:42 No, no. Come on, come on. I think that's just a good choice of words, but go on. Mia Kelly - 08:48 It was just so exhilarating and exciting to be so well received and I have so much fun doing my music and so just kind of building up from there. And then more recently, earlier. Earlier this year, I had a meeting with the Salle Azdississe, which is where I did my album launch last night. And I remember them just being so incredibly on board, and they agreed to do a partnership with me for my album launch and to kind of endorse me for this grant that I was doing an application for. And I remember driving home and I was like, man, I could make this work. I could make this, like, my job. I could make this my life. And it was just such a fun moment to kind of have the realization that it's not gonna be easy. Of course it's not. Mia Kelly - 09:38 But that I really want to do this. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 09:41 So I, I, I spent. I spent a good chunk of time listening to Cardboard Box. That was your frst ep. Mia Kelly - 09:51 Yeah. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 09:52 And it has, I think, four songs on there. But I fnd the same theme kind of runs through into what you have termed your debut album right now. And I'm fascinated to hear about how such heavy themes are embedded in your music. Such themes about resilience, such themes about looking inward, such themes setting yourself free. How do you fnd yourself in that realm of heaviness? Mia Kelly - 10:27 Well, so I started songwriting because it's a way for me, It's a perfect outlet for me to kind of let go of my emotions. And when things are getting really heavy, I can't take them anymore in my own little heart. And so I kind of have them out on the page. And so I can't really write if it doesn't stir something in me emotionally. And that's when it. It's really inspiring for me. And so to write about things that are. I don't think I could fnd myself writing about things that weren't. That didn't mean a whole lot to me, because that's kind of the whole point of my music to me, is to kind of share my emotions, share the feelings and the stories, the message that I'm trying to, you know, put across. And so it's just. It's. Mia Kelly - 11:28 It's kind of like therapy to me is writing songs. And it just kind of really allows me to. To understand myself sometimes. You know, I'll write. I'll write a song, and then I'll look back at it a couple months later, and I'm like, huh, I didn't realize I thought that. Or, like, I didn't realize I felt that way. So it's really a lot of introspection, and I think that encourages introspection in others, which I. When I'm listening to music. So it's. It's sweet to kind of have that component in my own. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 11:58 And do you think the. I think There's a slight tinge of melancholy in the sound. Do you think that helps drive the message home as to what you're trying to communicate? Mia Kelly - 12:14 Absolutely. I mean, as you said, a lot of the messages are pretty heavy. You know, we, like, in Garden through the War, we're touching on dysfunctional family, on homelessness, on fear, on depression, on just a bunch of things that are not very easy or happy topics. And so I think to say, somewhat connected with my message, my music has to stay a little bit, you know, some seriousness, some edge, some deepness, some darkness, some sadness. For sure. Yeah. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 12:52 Yeah. Mia Kelly - 12:53 All the while not being too depressing. Yeah, hopefully. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 12:57 And I don't. No, no. And I don't think it is, I think. And again, I think that's the question, because I think it's bold and daring to want to. Want to have your music express that, because I think as a society, as a culture, we want to run away from that, but it's part of the human experience. So I think if we're able to capture it in a way that, you know, makes the audience and makes the listener very refective, I think that's a win. So thank you. Thank you so much for doing that, because it. I enjoy it. I do enjoy it anytime I listen to you. So thank you so much for doing that. Mia Kelly - 13:32 My pleasure. I think it's just important to open, you know, dialogue about the hard things, and that's kind of what the album is about, partially. So I appreciate you saying that. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 13:44 No, that's great. That's great. I also love opening the dialogue about hard things, because part of the human experience, I think, in my experience, is hard. Right. There's the hard side, and then there's the happy side. And both of them makes up the totality of what we do here. Yeah. Mia Kelly - 14:06 Well said. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 14:06 Awesome. Okay, so tell me about. Tell me about the making of this album, Garden through the War. And you also have a title track from it. How. How. How long did it take you to put this album together? Mia Kelly - 14:23 Well, it's funny because to actually record the album was quite a short process. I was not expecting it to be, but I totaled, I think, at like eight or nine days in the studio. Super efcient. But weren't rushing anything, which was really nice. We just had long days and very productive days and a lot of fun. But if you look back at, you know, when these songs were being written, it's kind of been an album three or four years in the making. Some songs I wrote when I was, you know, in high school, when I was 15, 16. Some of them I've also written in the last, you know, couple in the last year probably. Mia Kelly - 15:05 So it's just kind of a span of the last couple years and the experience that I've had and some experiences that I've heard of and I've absorbed and I've turned into music as well. So it's. It's been a long, but also a very short process. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 15:20 Okay. And I know artists typically write, like, a whole bunch of songs. Did you have to. Did you have to whittle down? Like, how did you come upon these set of songs that you said, okay, this is what we're gonna put in this particular record? Mia Kelly - 15:36 Yeah. So I had. I had a load of songs that I would love to record, but you only have so much time and only so much money. And also, I really. It was important me to have kind of a theme that kind of kept the album on a track on. On the same kind of message. Obviously, there's variations in the message, and it's not all about the same thing, but overall, there's kind of this. This message of strength and resilience and growth, and these are all things that I think, collectively we've experienced a lot of in the last couple of years. And. And so I picked these songs kind of specifcally because that's what they represented for me, and that's how I wanted. That's the message I wanted to come across for sure. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 16:29 Yeah. And. And so my favorite. My favorite song on the album, at least right now that we're talking, is Margaret, My Dear. Mia Kelly - 16:41 I love that song as well. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 16:45 Do you do that? Do you have favorites when you. When you put. When you put out an album? Are you trying that? Mia Kelly - 16:50 Yeah, it changes. It changes, like, every day. But I think mine right now is Murphy, which is the third one. Yeah. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 16:58 Yeah. I. I really want to talk to you about the French songs, but I can't. I can't speak French, and I don't want to murder the names, but they sound just as good. They sound just as good as the English songs. But so before we talk about your. The. The. The title track and the single that you have out right now, what about. How did Margaret, My Dear come about? Because it's such a. It's such a beautiful written song. So how. How did that come about? Mia Kelly - 17:30 Yeah, so that one is a very important song for me. It's very close to my heart. I fnd it hard to perform it live, and I get all, like, teary and emotional, and I wrote it. That was one of the earlier Songs that I wrote that made it onto the album. And it's about a good friend of mine who was having. Who's deeply struggling with mental health. And I had no idea how to help her and she kind of was pushing a lot of help away and that was really hard as a friend to see. And I didn't know how to react to it. Mia Kelly - 18:10 And so I wrote kind of this song just to let her know that I, I knew how hard it was and I could see her struggling and that I would always be there even if she didn't know how to kind of take that help. And that I loved her very dearly. And I'm happy to say that she's signifcantly better today and that she's still with us. But that's kind of what that song is about, is recognizing the struggle and just kind of being there in solidarity with your close circle when they need, when they need your help. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 18:48 Huh. Well, so I get a sense that you are a. That community is kind of important to you. Mia Kelly - 19:01 Yeah, Big time. Yeah. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 19:05 Huh. Huh. So I'm going to ask you what's. Especially in this times that we live in, what do you think is the value of having strong ties and strong bonds even within community, even as we go about in this times that we are in? Mia Kelly - 19:26 I think having people around you that you can count on, that you can share, that the hardships with, that you can share the light with, makes a world of difference. It can be life saving, it can be life changing. It is what keeps me grounded and whole and healthy is having kind of that very rich and deep connections with my friends, with my family. And I'm so fortunate to have these people around me. But it really, I think it makes me who I am. And I think having a community is the most important thing you can do to kind of make sure that there's a net there to catch you if you fall, if something's not right, and that you can be someone else's net, you know, and it's just kind of a give and receive and it's a wonderful thing. Yeah. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 20:24 Well said. Very well said. Okay. I read that the title track of this project is kind of like a pushing back on a popular proverb and you were able to fashion this into a very beautifully written song. So just if you want to tell us that process of converting or rather fipping that proverb on its head and also what the importance of expressing that vulnerability as opposed to the hardness that society often pushes Us to be about warriorship and about being strong and hard, about fipping that and just what. What does fipping that whole notion. What does it do for us as. As a people? Mia Kelly - 21:12 Absolutely. That's a great question. So I for. I don't know where I frst heard the proverb, but it goes, it's better to be a warrior in a garden than to be a gardener in a war. So it essentially tells us that, you know, it's better to always be ready to be a fghter, to be, you know, be strong, be hard, be resilient, be like. Kind of doesn't leave very much space for vulnerability, for growth, for sweetness to yourself. I decided to switch it into Garden through the War because that allowed the story that I was trying to tell. It really. It took the story that I was trying to tell and it made. It made the message come across. And it's essentially what I'm trying to say is that to garden through war is sometimes. So is survival. Mia Kelly - 22:13 It's what keeps us coming through is if you have this kind of fghter mentality that works for some, but sometimes it doesn't work for others. And just kind of putting your head down and having a. The strength to just simply get through something difcult is really important and is really valuable and is. Is something that isn't celebrated. You know, we. We celebrate a lot of strength and. And, you know, you came out stronger. You came out. And it's just like, you don't have to come out stronger sometimes. You just have to come out on the other side alive, and then you can. There's a lot of growth that comes through that whole process. And so I think. I hope that answers your question. And that's kind of how I came to fip that proverb to become garden through the war. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 23:05 See, I got. I have goosebumps, right, Because I've been like. I've been talking about this to people for years and years, right? It's just. I think it's such an important message, you know, that, you know, that we need to hear. And then more people need to hear that. You know, part of. Part. Sometimes winning can. Can look like just. Just making it through another day, and that's. That's winning. Exactly. You don't have to be standing. You don't have to be standing, you know, with a gold medal or something like that, you know, you don't have to be standing on the mountaintop, right? You just. You just. Just making it to the next day could. Could all you need. Could all you need sometimes. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 23:54 And it's Amazing that you say that because I see that your philosophy kind of on life which has sipped in through your music, hasn't quite changed. Because in that CTV interview, I told you, I listened to. I think the, the interviewer asked you where you wanted all of this to go, and your answer was very telling and was very fascinating. So I'm going to ask, I'm going to prompt you and I'm going to ask that you speak on that just a little bit more. But you said if you were able to be a working musician, something around that concept, that if you weren't necessarily looking for all of the fame and fortune, but if you were able to make a living off of what you do, you know, that would be great. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 24:43 Tell me how in this, again, in this crazy world where everybody is trying to, you know, shoot. Shoot for the moon, how you've come to settle with that kind of idea and how you found comfort in saying, okay, I want this, but if I don't get it, then this is just, this is just good. As long as I continue to keep. Mia Kelly - 25:06 Making music, I think my stance on that has kind of stayed the same. I think, you know, within the music industry, being successful can look a variety of different ways. You can be the biggest pop star in the world and everyone knows your name and you're on every single magazine cover and everyone's talking about you. And you could also just be, you know, recording as much as you can, making it a lifelong, very sustainable career and kind of enjoying and making connections and making friendships and collaborations. And I, I don't know where this will go. I, I hope that my biggest hope is that I can just keep doing this and that it will sustain me and that I can pay my bills and that I will not be, you know, homeless and I'm 35. Mia Kelly - 26:08 But I think if I can make music a sustainable career for myself, then I will be the happiest I can be. I have so much fun doing it and it's. If I can touch, you know, as many people as I can with the messages that I try to put across, then even better and just kind of sharing. Music is massive and can be life changing. And so I hope I get to do it forever. If that's not too cheesy to say. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 26:42 No, not at all. It's not cheesy at all. I think it's just. I think it's the perfect answer. I love it. I am going to, I want to share that portion of this interview with a lot of people to just listen to understand that you don't necessarily need to be under a self imposed pressure. I think, you know, I think the art should kind of come. Come frst. Yeah, yeah. So I, I do love it. So if you, if so, I also typically ask that. So does the album you intend to make and does the album you eventually make when it's all said and done. When you look at this project that you put out, your debut album, how close is it to what you envisioned your debut album would be like, Would sound like? Mia Kelly - 27:41 I think it's funny, it's very close. And at the same time, there are little kind of surprises that if I had, if I listened to the album like that I have that I can hold in my hands today, if I listen to it a year ago when I haven't even stepped into the studio, I think I would be very pleasantly surprised. And also, I don't think I'd be shocked at anything, but I think I'd be like, oh, I really like what you did here. Or like, oh, you decided to do this. I would be an interesting conversation to talk to Mia from 2021 and talk to me now. But I defnitely think it's. It came out. I'm very proud of how it came out and the fnal result and how every single song is. I think there's kind of a variety in the album. Mia Kelly - 28:41 It's not all monotone. Every song is very different. But I think there's still kind of this continual sound that you can kind of identify as being my own, which is kind of anything an artist ever wishes for is to have kind of your own sound. And so I'm pretty happy with the fnal result. Yeah. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 29:04 Awesome. And I think that's all that matters, really. I love that you're proud of it. I think personally, what this is, what, August almost into September, I get to listen to a ton of music come through. I'm a close watcher of the industry and I know there was a reason why I reached out to you two years ago. I'm so excited that we're getting to do this right now. I think that you are. I honestly think that you're very special and unique. And the message with what you have started of your career, I think it's an important message. A lady called Susan Cain, she's a writer, writes quite a ton about some of themes that are embedded in what you write about. She talks about most of themes. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 29:55 Somebody you may want to check out if you, if you love reading Books and stuff like that. But I just think that's an important. I think it's an important message. I think you're the beautiful and amazing singer. I don't want to belabor that process about how. How talented you are, because it's. It's obvious. So the album dropped on August 26th? Mia Kelly - 30:19 Yes, it did. Yes. Thank you. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 30:21 Okay. How has reception been so far? Mia Kelly - 30:27 It's been so positive, and that's just a huge sigh of relief for me. It was a lot of buildup and anticipation to kind of share this album, and it's, you know, it's vulnerable to be able to, you know, kind of tell the world, hey, this is my artistic identity. Come and judge it. You know, you're free. That's what. That's what happens, you know, when you put something out in the world. But so far, it's been amazing, and it's been picked up by some really cool places, and so that's been really exciting to be able to share that and have it kind of go a little in unexpected directions, which has been a beautiful surprise, and I'm really pleased with how it's going so far. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 31:17 We wish you so much goodness. I think that's the best we can give to you. We're gonna do the best we can to promote the album on our page and through our channels, but this is by far by a long mile, just in terms of the music, in terms of the lyric, in terms of how the album comes together. One of the best things I've listened to this year. I don't say that lightly. I just absolutely love. I absolutely love what you're doing. So we. We're rooting for you, Mia Kelly. That's. That's what I want to say. Mia Kelly - 31:54 Thank you so much. I might cry. Oh, my gosh. That means so much. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 32:03 No, we're. We're. We're. We. We love it. I know all of your handles has been sent to me by Carrie, so when we go about sending people to your page, we know where to send them. But I really want to thank you for your time. I see amazing things in your future, and we're gonna, you know, take front row seat and watching how your career unfolds just as the years continue to go by. But thank you so much for your time here. Mia Kelly - 32:28 I'm so grateful you're such an attentionate and, you know, passionate interviewer, and not everyone is like that. So I really appreciate it. Yeah. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 32:40 Thank you. Thank you so much. We're going to keep talking for sure. This has been. This has been a blast. Thank you for coming on, and I hope we get to do this again. Mia Kelly - 32:49 Me, too. Not two years from now. You know, I'll be more on the ball of my schedule. I'm sorry about that. I'm going to go look now. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 32:59 No, not at all. I think this was how it was meant to happen, and it's. It's happened beautifully. So thank you so much. Mia Kelly - 33:09 Yes, I agree. I'm gonna go call Carrie and thank her for putting me in touch with you because this has been lovely. Yeah. Efe Mike-Ifeta - 33:18 Thank you. Thank you so much.